Re: (rshsdepot) Phoenix, AZ

[luckyshow_@_mindspring.com]

did Amtrak replace it with  a box?

- -----Original Message-----
>From: I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com
>Sent: Dec 13, 2006 10:49 AM
>To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
>Subject: (rshsdepot) Phoenix, AZ
>
>From today's Arizona Republic.
> 
>Bernie Wagenblast
> 
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 
>City talks of train station  rebirth
>
>Angela Cara Pancrazio Downtown landmark eyed for shopping, dining  
>For more than two decades, the city has eyed the potential of Phoenix`s Union 
> Station. With all of its space and its Mission Revival architecture, the 
>1923  rail-passenger center could be a city centerpiece filled with shops, 
>restaurants  and artists, officials have proposed.  
>That vision never came to fruition.  
>The last train carrying passengers pulled out of the station in the  
>mid-1990s. In recent years, the station has been inaccessible to the public.  There`s 
>a security fence ringing the building because Sprint owns it and stores  
>equipment in it. But lately, with the renaissance of downtown Phoenix,  Sprint and 
>the city`s Historic Preservation Office are talking about what is the  best 
>use for the building.  
>``Now there`s momentum for something to happen,`` said Barbara Stocklin, the  
>city`s historic preservation officer.  
>From the beginning, Phoenix`s Union Station was designed to be a high-profile 
> building in the city`s core, Stocklin said.  
>``Downtown is at a crossroads and Sprint is at a crossroads - that`s always  
>good,`` Stocklin said.  
>``If Sprint`s interested in doing something else, it`s good timing.``  
>Sitting on Harrison Street at Fourth Avenue, the station borders the  
>southwestern fringe of downtown`s warehouse district. Over the past several  years, 
>the district has slowly reinvented itself with a handful of galleries,  
>restaurants and lofts.  
>``You could do just about anything with the station,`` Stocklin said.  
>It could be restored for its original use, she said, as a commuter rail  
>station and a transportation hub with buses and taxis.  
>Four hundred and seventy-five feet long and 110 feet at its widest, the  
>station has the potential to become a destination place, said Brian Kearney of  
>the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, and could easily be a home for restaurants, a  
>museum, galleries and retail.  
>Many Union Stations across the country have been demolished, but just as many 
> cities have found ways to renovate and reuse the buildings. The name - Union 
> Station - was created as a common name when the Southern Pacific railroad 
>and  the Santa Fe railroad consolidated their passenger depots into one 
>``union``  station.  
>Examples of how cities that have adaptively reused their stations are:  
>• Kansas City`s Union Station is a science museum and Amtrak terminal, and  
>has restaurants and shops.  
>• St. Louis`s Union Station has a light-rail stop outside and has a shopping  
>mall and hotel.  
>• Temple, Texas, has converted its rail station into a transportation museum  
>and Amtrak stop.  
>• Dallas` Union Terminal is now a transportation center for Amtrak, light  
>rail and commuter rail.  
>• Los Angeles` Union Passenger Terminal still services Amtrak, as well as  
>heavy commuter rail, and has restaurants and shopping.  
>• Tucson`s rail station is now an Amtrak stop, museum and retail center.  
>• Flagstaff`s rail station is now an Amtrak stop, regional tourist bureau and 
> car-rental station.  
>Many of these conversions, Stocklin said, have been accomplished with federal 
> transportation enhancement funds, a required set-aside program from federal  
>highway dollars since 1991.  
>These dollars are still available, Stocklin said, and could potentially be  
>used for a conversion of Phoenix`s Union Station as well.  
>Phoenix`s is on the city`s Historic Register.  
>``The best thing is they`ve (Sprint) maintained the building,`` Stocklin  
>said. ``They`ve been the steward of the building.`` 
>
>=================================
>The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
>railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
>

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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